Abandoned Again
by IMakeTheMonsters
Summary: [AU] Lucy, Juvia, Natsu, Gray, Levy, Gajeel, and Erza. 7 friends. Each trying to figure out their own futures. Each trying to outlive the past. Will they make it? Only time will tell. [Nalu] [Gruvia] [Gale] [Jerza] Other pairings -ON HIATUS (I AM SO SORRY)-
1. Prologue

_**H**_ _ **ey guys! This is my first ever fanfic, so lemme know what you think! I'd love to hear your opinions on my writing. Nalu is one of my OTPs, so it's only fitting if use them for my first ever story, dontcha' think? And Juvia is so adorable I just HAD to use her first thing. Well, enough of my babbling. Without further ado, here is "Abandoned Again".**_

Lucy Heartfilia and Juvia Loxar- two best friends, each an escapee from a horrifying past

Levy McGarden- A sheltered bookworm searching for a way to finally let loose

Gajeel Redfox- A lone wolf, looking for someone to love

Erza Scarlet- trying to forget the things that, according to her, never happened

Gray Fullbuster- overwhelming guilt and fear: will he finally crack?

And Natsu Dragneel- you know, Lucy isn't the only child noone ever wanted

 **7 friends. Each trying to figure out their own lives. Each trying to outlive the past. Will they make it? Only time will tell** **.**

*~~0~~~*~~~0~~~*~~~0~~*

 _ **The man stared at her, eyes darkening as his face contorted with anger. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO TALK BACK TO ME!" He roared. The little girl kneeling before him was shaking in terror, her eyes filled with tears as she waited, defenseless, for the inevitable attack. He reached down, snatching up the half-empty whiskey bottle**_ _ **laying atop the dingy nightstand,**_ _ **and-**_

"LUCY! LUCY-CHAN! WAKE UP!"

Lucy Heartfilia shot up in her bed with a start. She was lying in a tangled mass of sheets, her heart beating erratically, and her usually rosy cheeks were pale and streaked with salty tears. Instinctively, she reached up to touch the jagged scar that marked the left side of her forehead, just above her hairline. Only when she had confirmed that it all really had just been a bad dream did she notice the worried blunette leaning over her bed. "Lucy! Are you alright?! Juvia heard screaming and thought you were being attacked!"

"Juvia! I'm okay, thanks. I was just caught in the middle of a nightmare."

Juvia's sapphire eyes widened as she whispered, "It was HIM again, wasn't it?"

Lucy lowered her head and chuckled, still a little shaken up from her dream. "You know me way too well for my own good, Juv."

"Well of course! Juvia is not Lucy-chan's best friend for nothing. We have been together since we were 7 years old. It is only natural that Juvia should know how Lucy-chan likes her cereal, and that she's allergic to shellfish, and that she can eat carrots but gets so disgusted by the taste that she throws up anyways," Juvia stated proudly.

Lucy giggled. "You are so random, you know that? But I love you," she winked and pulled her best friend in for a hug. "Thanks for waking me up in time. I was almost at the-" she choked, "THAT part."

Her friend nodded gravely, "Yes. It is best that Lucy-chan does not relive THAT."

Even though Lucy seemed to be feeling better, Juvia could tell, from the way her best friend's hand trembled in her lap, that she was still feeling the aftereffects of the nightmare. So, after summoning all the cheerfulness she could muster at 5 in the morning, she bounced off the bed and energetically grabbed the blonde's hand. "Juvia is wondering if there are any early-morning pancakes waiting downstairs in the kitchen, and she is sure Lucy-chan could use a good dose of sugar as well!"

Lucy grinned, the nightmare forgotten entirely. "Let's go find out!"

*~~0~~~*~~~0~~~*~~~0~~*

 ** _Ta-da! There you go! To be honest, I already love you for making it to the end. Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you stick around_** ** _for the next chapter!_** ** _Drop me a review in the box below, or PM me anytime! I'd be happy to talk to you ;D._**

 ** _With that said,_**

 ** _Lotsa love,_**

 ** _Tiffany, out._**


	2. Chapter 1

_**So here's the next chapter! My best friend has been pestering me all day to get this done, which is understandable since the prologue was so short. Sorry about that, BTW. I am over the moon that there were people on this planet that actually liked my writing, and even went so far as to tell me so! Thank you so much! This chapter was a little rushed, as I have summer school every day and then come home to sit on my bed for like, 5 hours with my laptop to write, but I think I did a pretty good job. Lmk what you think; I don't think you guys understand just how happy you make me.**_

 _ **Anyways, here's Chapter 1 of Abandoned Again. (Don't worry, the title will make more sense as we progress further into the story ;D)**_

The sun was just coming up as Mirajane Strauss slipped through the back door of Fairy Tail, the all-girls group home that was nestled in a bustling neighbourhood on the southern edge of Magnolia. The beautiful senior had been volunteering here for the past 3 years; at first it had just been a feeble attempt to up her chances at a scholarship to Fiore University. But the longer she spent here, the more she began to feel at home: she fell in love with the busy atmosphere, the warm hearts of the people who worked there, and more than a few of the girls who had been taken in.

So naturally- even though she had just gotten off a 4-hour flight from Acalypha several hours ago and was still battling severe jet lag- when she had gotten a call from a distressed-sounding Juvia at 5 in the morning, saying that Lucy was having a nightmare and they needed waffles ASAP, Mira immediately got out of bed and drove across town in her pyjamas without a second thought. Naturally.

But, she couldn't have just _left_ Juvia on her own to take care of Lucy, could she? After all, she knew firsthand how scary dreams about your past were. Especially when they forced you to relive the one thing you never wanted to see again over and over. Lucy used to have the same nightmare almost every night as a child, but as she got older, and the memory began to fade, they lessened, and then stopped altogether. According to Juvia, they must've been triggered by some other incident a few weeks back, and now Lucy was having the same nightmare more than a few times a week. Gripping the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles turned white, Mira shuddered, thinking of all the times she had spent the night in Fairy Tail just so she could comfort the younger girl. She never again wanted to see the haunted look in Lucy's eyes as she started awake, sobbing and drenched in sweat in Mira's arms.

So there she was. Standing in the kitchen with an apron on over her pyjamas, her long white hair tied up in a messy ponytail. Making waffles. Just as she was pouring the batter into the waffle iron to cook, two young girls came bounding down the stairs, whispering excitedly- or as excitedly as they could without waking up everyone in the building. When they saw Mira, Lucy abruptly froze. "What are you doing here?"

Raising an eyebrow at smirking bluenette standing beside her, Mira replied mildly, "Oh, you know, a little fish swam by my house and told me you might need some waffles this morning."

Lucy slowly spun around to stare at Juvia, who was hiding behind her hand, trying to mask the enormous Cheshire cat grin that threatened to break loose at any moment. Then she turned back to Mira, who was chuckling at the astonished expression on the blonde's face.

"Well? Are you going to come here and give me a hug, or are we just going to stand here until those waffles burn?"

With that, Lucy jumped into Mirajane's arms, her shriek ricocheting all the way down to the end of the hall.

"Mira, I missed you so much! How was Acalypha? Did you go sightseeing? How about the boys? Were there any cute ones? Did you get a boyfriend? I can't believe you've been gone for 6 months!" Lucy's mind was going a mile a minute, and her mouth was barely breaking a sweat trying to keep up. She bombarded the poor older girl with questions, acting like an excited child asking for her presents on Christmas day. That is, until they heard two pairs of feet thundering down the stairs towards them.

"Lucy! Are you okay? We heard you scream!" Meredy shouted, running towards them. Her older sister Ultear was right behind her.

"Um, yeah… Nothing's wrong. I'm alright, really! I just got kind of overexcited about waffles."

Ultear stared at her. "Waffles?"

"Uh-huh."

"Waffles, as in like, the breakfast food."

"Um, yeah," Lucy sweated nervously.

Ultear took a deep breath… and then she exploded.

"WHAT THE HELL, LUCY?! WAFFLES?! YOU WOKE US UP AT 5:30 IN THE MORNING, SCREAMING LIKE A FRICKIN BANSHEE; BECAUSE YOU DECIDED YOU WANTED WAFFLES?! WHAT IN THE NAME OF MAVIS IS WRONG WITH-" but she never got to finish, because Juvia cut in smoothly, "Juvia is sorry, Ultear-san, Meredy-san, she and Lucy did not mean to wake you up this early in the morning. Lucy-chan had a nightmare and couldn't sleep, so Juvia called Mira-san at her house to come and help her feel better. We were just excited to see Mira-san after all her time away."

Ultear's glare softened and she turned towards Lucy. "You had the nightmare again? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay now. Sorry I woke you up," Lucy replied sheepishly. Yeesh, Ultear was really not a morning person. Thank god Lucy always had Juvia to step in and save her.

Ultear then turned to Mirajane, who was already being strangled by her younger sister. "Meredy, stop it. You're going to suffocate the poor girl."

Meredy reluctantly pulled away, beaming up at Mirajane, who was ruffling the girl's pink hair affectionately.

"It's good to see you haven't grown up without me, Mer." She then turned towards Ultear, smiling. "It's nice to see you again, Ultear-san. Have you decided on your classes at Fiore University?"

"Yes I have, thank you. The school year starts in a month, but from what I can tell, it seems like it'll be a great experience. I'm going to miss all of you, though," Ultear replied, equally polite. They continued to discuss the different classes Ultear had enrolled in, when Lucy's stomach let out a loud, echoing gurgle. She turned bright red and stammered, "I'm sorry, it's just that we've been standing here for a while, and I'm really hungry. Can we go eat those waffles now?"

Giggling, the other girls obliged, and turning to Mirajane, Ultear asked, "Will you be here all day? Or are you going home to get some rest?"

Looking at the pleading faces of the younger girls, Mira shook her, head smiling. "Well, seeing as I'm already here, I suppose I could convince Master to give me an extra shift at the restaurant," she winked, and Lucy, Juvia and Meredy jumped up and down, squealing.

*~~0~~~*~~~0~~~*~~~0~~*

Mirajane glanced up from the table she was cleaning to see Makarov Dreydar coming towards her. With an energetic leap, the tiny old man made it onto the counter beside the now smiling waitress. She could never feel down whenever her honorary-grandfather was around. He was the founder of the Fairy Tail Group Home Institution, the temporary guardian of the four girls, and the owner of the Fairy Tail Restaurant and Bar across the street from the institution. The clever man had bought both buildings and turned one of them into a franchise, in order to support the cost of caring for his "children". Mirajane had never met another man with a heart as big as his. He had been there for her ever since Mira's little sister, Lisanna, had passed away in a terrible car crash. That was around the time Mira had decided that she needed to get a scholarship to Fiore U, in order to achieve her little sister's dream.

 _-Flashback-_

" _Hey Lis, what do you want to be when you grow up?"_

 _The little white-haired girl smiled up at her. "I want to go to Fiore University, just like mommy and daddy did! Then it'll be like we all went there together!"_

 _-End of Flashback-_

Mira could still feel her little sister's hand in hers that day. Her eyes misted over as she went back over the memory, so clearly etched in her mind. Then she shook her head and snapped out of it, knowing she couldn't let herself cloud her sister's memory with sadness. Turning towards the elderly man, she blinked the tears from her eyes.

"Good morning, Master" Mira greeted cheerfully. "Has the issue with the private tutor been resolved yet?"

The old man sighed wearily. "No it hasn't, even after all that arguing. Samuel just refuses to agree that the education of these children is more important than his 'economic balance', as he put it. We cannot rely on him for academic support any longer."

"So what are you going to do?"

"The only thing I can do," Makarov replied. "We will enroll the children in the public school system of Fiore."

Mira furrowed her brows worriedly. "I thought you said that you would never do that! Some of those kids are really mean. They won't understand the girl's circumstances."

"I know," he sighed, "but we don't have a choice. The girls need to have a proper education in order to properly prepare for their futures, and the government is still refusing to continue funding our organization. Besides, I believe the worst attitudes will come from the high school students, no? With Lucy, Juvia, and Meredy enrolled in Magnolia High, you will be able to keep an eye on them. After all, you do have a great amount of influence, Miss Homecoming Queen."

Mira blushed and ducked her head. It was true, she had been granted the title of Homecoming Queen 3 years in a row, and it was no secret among the students of MH that she would mostly likely be crowned again for her senior year.

"Alright Master, you win. I'll look out for the girls the best I can. But seeing as you plan for them to start school on Monday, it might be a good idea for you to tell them as soon as possible. 3 days is hardly enough time for them to prepare."

"Yes, I suppose you're right, as usual," he admitted. "I'll go make the phone call now. Please ask the girls to meet me in my office in about 15 minutes to discuss our plan." With a kind nod of his head, Makarov hopped off the table and strolled briskly in the direction of his office. An amused expression settled over Mira's face as she watched him go. From what she had seen so far, her senior year was about to become a whole lot more interesting.

 _ **See, I promised this chapter would be longer, didn't I? Hope you liked it! Drop me a review in the box below or PM me anytime. I'll be updating as soon as I can; in the meantime please give me your honest opinions. See ya!**_

 _ **Lotsa love,**_

 _ **Tiffany, out.**_


	3. Author's Note

**Hey guys, I am SO sorry I haven't updated in so long, I've just been way busy with exams and things like that (I had to go to summer school). Now that I'm finished, I will try to finish the next chapter ASAP. I have the general outline of what I want; I'm just trying to figure out how to expand it. So please wait a little longer, I'll try my best.**

 **I'm also working on a new Gakuen Alice fanfic, with all the usual pairings (NxM, RxH, SxKoko, etc). I'll try to put it out for you in the next few days or so, so please check it out! Thanks!**

 _ **Lotsa love,  
Tiffany, out**_


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